Promises Written in Metal
by mercscilla
Summary: He gives her the old-fashioned tags as a promise of a future together and throughout the battle for Terra Nova, Taylor and Wash draw strength and hope from them. a more satisfying AU version of the finale


**Author's Note:** This story was inspired by my gif-set that in turn was brought to life by a conversation on Twitter with those lovely BAMFettes. :D  
**Disclaimer:** I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money with this piece. I just do it for fun.

You can find the gif-set at: street-of-mercy . tumblr . com/post/21281758031/title-promises-written-in-metal-rating-pg-15

* * *

It's still early in the morning when Taylor calls her to the Command Center and the moment Alicia sees his and Shannon's expressions, she knows, she won't like what he's about to tell her.

"Commander, I don't think stay-"

"It's not up for discussion, Lieutenant."

Alicia tries to keep an impassive mask but her eyes betray her and she can no longer hold his piercing gaze. He walks towards her with measured steps and she shifts slightly to the side, anger and frustration coiling low in her belly, momentarily overshadowing the worry for the man. Worry she is not supposed to feel but today of all days, she can no longer hide it.

Taylor comes to a stop right in front of her, closer than he has ever been, so close she can feel the heat of his body, the scent of him wrapping around her, soothing her anger, comforting her.

His left hand disappears into his pocket to pull something out and Alicia lifts her eyes to his as he reaches for her hand. She can count the times he has initiated physical contact (other than a tab on her back to get her attention or helping her up after a training session) on both hands (eight and a half) and somehow this one strikes her as being even more different than those eight and a half.

He drops a pair of old-fashioned dog tags into her palm and closes her fingers around them, his hands gripping hers almost painfully but all Alicia is aware of are the pieces of metal, their ridges and corners biting into her skin.

"Do you remember Thailand?" Surprise turns into confusion, clearly showing in her face, and Taylor tightens his hold on her as he leans forward.

"We found that mountain village with its little shops and one of them offered customized antique tags." Understanding dawns and she nods slowly, thinking back to the stand from over fifteen years ago that had been nothing more than a hole in the wall. "You stared wistfully at them and gently rubbed over the raised words on the metal, almost like a caress."

As the warmth of his breath washes over her face, Alicia shivers involuntarily and Taylor's eyes darken to a deep blue, boring into hers with almost searing intensity. "I went back to it that evening and had some made for us. I never gave them to you because it wouldn't have been just a gift. It would have been a promise, Wash, a promise we both were not ready for, not then. But now..."

Her eyes widen and her breath hitches imperceptibly as the implication of his words sink in. There has always been something between them, since the first day they met. They never talked about, too afraid to destroy what little moments they allowed themselves to have (a lingering touch here, a fleeting look there), but it seems that he, just like her, is tired of pretending.

For a few heartbeats Alicia simply stares at Taylor, sees what lies beneath the Commander's facade, sees the man and his hopes, sees a future, and she gently covers their hands with her right one. She has never really been a ring kind of girl anyway.

"Keep them save for me until I return, Lieutenant."

She will.

ooo

When the convoy is about to roll out, Alicia tries to change his mind one last time but Taylor has made his decision and when he drawls, he needs her to be safe and sound, needs her to be here when it's time to stitch him up (again), she is caught between a rush of affection and irritation.

"Can the chatter," she cuts him off, her smile bittersweet as she pushes his armor into his chest, and Taylor's amused smirk does little to quell her emotional turmoil, the feeling of uneasiness brushing along the edges of her mind, but then her fingers slide against the metal in her pocket and she is almost certain, luck is on their side for once.

It isn't though and when Alicia is brought before Lucas, hands bound but spirit free and shining brightly, she knows, no one blames himself more than Taylor. She senses his fury on the other side of the fence as Lucas points his gun at her and she hopes Shannon has enough brains to stop Taylor from coming to her rescue, pale eyes surely alight with blue fire, prepared to take on the whole damn Phoenix Group just for her.

It's those blue eyes Alicia thinks about as she stares into Lucas', still so very similar to Taylor's, despite the coldness and all-consuming madness in them.

"You have your father's eyes," she tell him in one last act of defiance and watches with grim satisfaction as her words, a reminder of the hated resemblance he bears to the father he loathes, make him snap. She doesn't regret it, she has always been one to go down fighting.

There is no pain as the sonic blast hits her, nor as she collapses to the hard ground, darkness slowly enveloping her. For Alicia, there's only the warm and comforting weight of their tags under her shirt, the letters of Nathaniel's name pressing into the skin right over her heart.

Taylor slowly lowers the binoculars, his heart denying what his mind already knows is true, and he is barely aware of Shannon urging him to leave as fast as possible. Numbness spreads through his body and it takes all his self-control to stay focused.

When they arrive back at the camp and Reilly asks him about Wash, reality hits him like a sledgehammer to the gut. It hurts like hell, makes it hard to breathe, to think, and no one comments as he stumbles, bracing his weight on a wooden stake. He has to get away, has to be alone and he finds a secluded area close to their temporary med tent. Minutes tick by, turning into hours, and as night falls, he is still sitting in the same spot, staring into the fire but not really seeing it.

He is far away, lost in memories, some tinged with sorrow, others with happiness, but all of them, every single one, are of her. The memory of longing in her eyes as she brushes over the outline of his and hers name on the old metal with her fingertips is the last straw and Taylor struggles for control once more, tries and fails to drag a breath.

From the corner of his eyes he notices as figure approaching and he raises his head to tell them to leave but the words never make it past his lips.

"Hello, sir."

Mad, that is what he has gone, there is no other explanation for it because his Lieutenant cannot be alive and smile at him like that.

"Wash?" He asks, his voice hoarse, disbelief and hope warring inside him as he slowly stands up. Her smile widens a fraction as she enters the small clearing and the light of the fire reflects on the tags resting on her chest. It breaks Taylor out of his daze and he doesn't hesitate to close the remaining distance between them in two steps. One hand tangles in her dark tresses, the other goes around her waist as he pulls her head back and covers her mouth with his.

Her body flush against his is too firm, too solid and _too alive _to be a figment of his imagination and what starts out slow and tender, gains in heat and passion with every passing second. His lips are insistent, seeking more, demanding more, and Wash moans quietly, her nails digging into his nape, fingers curling into his shirt as she anchors him to her.

Desire flares hot as he deepens the kiss, their tongues sliding against each other as she parts her lips, and Taylor presses himself against her, groaning low as she arches into him, clutching at his bicep. Hands brush over heated skin, teasing, leaving a trail of fire in their wake, and he hauls her closer-

A rustling to their left drags them from their own little world and his lips break away from hers, his breath mingling with hers as they both try to catch their own. His thumb gently strokes her cheek and Taylor feels his soul awakening again as Wash turns her face into his hand, kissing his palm.

Looking into her amber eyes, he sees a maelstrom of emotions but there is absolutely no mistaking the emotion that's shining through all of it. With a ragged sigh, Taylor intertwines their fingers and tugs her back into his arms.

ooo

As they reveal their plan to Shannon, it actually stuns the former cop into shocked silence, and Nathaniel shares an amused glance with Alicia.

"Ah, wait now, are you- this is-," Shannon splutters. "That's it? That's what Cù lao Chàm means? Taking out Hope Plaza?" He blinks rapidly, his eyes bouncing back and forth between them before settling on Alicia. "You know, Wash, I knew you were crazy but not that crazy." She glares at Shannon and Nathaniel chuckles, leaving the tree he has been leaning on to walk around the fire until he's standing next to the makeshift bench she's sitting on. He lets his hand fall to her shoulder, gives it a gentle squeeze and feels her muscles relax under his touch.

"This is our home." Shannon stares into the darkness for a few minutes before he turns back to them. "If we have to cut ourselves off of that future in order to hold onto our home, we will have to survive out here with what we've got."

"Oh, we will survive." Nathaniel catches Alicia's gaze, the determination in hers mirroring the one in his. "We have each other."

They work for hours on their plan and Nathaniel proudly watches as it slowly starts to take shape but then the topic of who's going back to Terra Nova comes up and Alicia announces, it is going to be her. His resounding "No." doesn't surprise either of them.

"You were _shot_, Wash. Carter's quick thinking might have saved your life and he did a damn good job at patching you up but it's still too risky. Guz-"

"Doesn't know the new layout of the colony and the changes Hoover made to it like I do," she points out to him calmly, unimpressed by his scowl. "You know I'm right." Nathaniel grits his teeth as he acknowledges the truth of her words, hating it at the same time with every fiber of his body. It's his job to distract Lucas out here, Shannon will make his way to Hope Plaza while Mira and Guz are keeping the soldiers around the portal occupied and they need someone capable on the inside, someone who knows the place and can successfully divert Hoover's attention.

With a growl of obvious frustration, Nathaniel pushes himself away from the small table and paces a few steps, then thinks better of it and walks back to her, his hands coming up to frame her face. "You will come back to me, Lieutenant. That's an order." His words leave no room for argument.

"The same goes for you, sir," Alicia whispers against his lips, her eyes sparkling in the firelight.

ooo

They part shortly after dawn and when he meets his son a day and a half later somewhere in the jungle, hears from him how his supposed-to-be-dead Lieutenant practically set the Phoenix Group on fire, Nathaniel smiles darkly, imagines her descending like an avenging angel on the mercenaries and he hits his son with a little bit more force than necessary.

Then he falls for Lucas' deception, believes for a moment his son truly regrets his actions but the sharp burn in his side tells him otherwise. Slumping onto a tree trunk, too weak to stand any longer, he fears it's him who's not going to keep their promise and his fingers find the old tags, tracing the letters of Alicia's name as his vision becomes blurry and his mind grows hazy.

As Lucas raises the knife for a second time, Nathaniel's eyes close, only to snap open again at the sound of a shot being fired. It stirs his heart to see his son fall and he regrets it has to end like this. Or maybe not if the sudden disappearance of Lucas' body is any indication and while it surely means another round of trouble for them, there is no point in thinking about it right now. Not when there is something, _someone_ far more important waiting for him back in Terra Nova.

A small smile graces his lips as they ride back into the colony and the sight of Alicia, looking so magnificent in the early morning sun with her unbound hair blowing freely around her face, standing near the still smoking remains of what once had been a Phoenix Group barrack, steals his breath. She's glowering at him (has already heard from Elisabeth about the injury and his lack of letting it be treated properly) but her touch is gently as she forces him down on a scorched container and moves his jacket aside to inspect the damage, her fingertips carefully skimming the edges of the wound.

"It needs _real_ stitches."

"In a minute, Wash."

It can wait. Right now, all he wants, all he needs is her and when Nathaniel reaches for her, Alicia comes willingly. He pulls her down next to him, wraps one arm around her shoulders and enfolds her hands in his, holding them close to her chest.

Reality fades away until it's just them, the strain of the last few days dissolving like the smoke and for the first time since it all has begun, they are truly at peace.

- END -


End file.
